The Crux of the GKS – Egyptian Dualism
Egyptian Pharaohs, Gods and Dualism
The God King Scenario (GKS) deems that the monarchy of ancient Egypt were first and foremost guises of primarily Mars, Venus, Mercury and the Moon as they appeared to repeatedly move back and forth to Earth (from Earth’s POV) in cosmic encounters lasting 3,000 years (Pharaonic Egypt). They were in the second instant represented here on earth numerous times over by people who believed they were ‘at one’ or the earthly manifestation of astral bodies.
Crucial to this extraordinary proposition is the Egyptian belief that when they were born two exact forms of the same person were created, one human and a double or ka as the Egyptians called it.
Egyptian Pharaohs (god kings) guises of planetary bodies
The GKS contends that the Egyptian ka (double) was not an invisible spirit or soul as per the conventional belief but personified planets, asteroids and comets that dominated ancient skies. Further, these celestial kas in the guise of god kings, divine queens and lesser dignitaries are primarily responsible for ancient history as it stands today (& the chronological mess it’s in!). With this in mind, what follows is a short essay discussing how the entire ‘duality concept’ worked and where it is clearly written down in history. It is the intention of the GKS to extract the Egyptian ka, and indeed the whole duel belief system surrounding it, from the mythological world and place in a very real world of chaos. Given mankind’s natural desire to believe in an afterlife I believe all ancient cultures adopted the same practice of associating with real physical heavenly bodies or one’s soul.
Resurrectionists
The Egyptians were resurrectionists; they believed that when they died they would be reborn as a star (akh) in the “Kingdom of Osiris.” They viewed the next world as a continuation of this one, a very real place where they could literally get up and go. Because Egypt was mainly agrarian, they believed the Hearafter was a place where they would spend their time farming. Many tomb paintings and papyri typically depicted the deceased wearing white loincloths or full length white attire; they were shown carrying out activities such as hacking up the Earth, pulling flax, reaping grain and ploughing or reaping the fields.
In preparation for the afterlife the Egyptians ensured a variety of Earthly possessions were buried with them. For example, the funerary items buried with the boy king Tutankhamun included a gold gilded wood chariot, gold daggers, sandals, a board game, a gold perfume box and food items such as mummified duck, dried beef, wheat, barley and wine. A total of 3,500 items were recovered and all were considered useful in the next world.
In order to attain a life in the Elysian Eields the body of the deceased had to be mummified; an elaborate process that took 70 days. The sole reason for mummification was to preserve the body so that the deceased could spend eternity in the next life. The Egyptians believed if you were not physically preserved in this world you would not exist in the next world. You would not be resurrected as a star (akh) or remain for eternity. If the deceased had a limb missing in this life, an artificial one was made and attached to the mummified body to enable the deceased to walk again in the afterlife.
To obtain a life of bliss and become a star/akh in the next world involved a hazardous journey fraught with incredible dangers and demons. To assist the deceased through these dangers, magical spells (The Book of the Dead) accompanied the dead; they were typically written on the coffins of the dead or on papyri and placed inside the coffins.
Where is the next world?
Much of what we know about ancient Egypt comes to us via the Egyptians obsession with the next world, but where is it? Where is this bigger and better Egypt?
Scholars believe it was a fictitious place which existed in the mythological world of the Egyptians; a made-up place created in minds of the Egyptians to explain what happened to them after death. I disagree with this reasoning.
I believe the next world was a ‘mirror image’ world which existed directly above the Earth and to the Egyptians it was a very real place, a divine land they could physically see and point to especially at night. It was a paradise that spanned the expanse of the cosmos and literally canopied the four corners of the Earth. It was a land all Egyptians who after undertaking a journey fraught with dangers (cosmic chaos) aspired to be reborn in, it was the land of space (Kemet = black land or the divine place of the mound of creation).
Of course, there is no land above. We know, after 4,000 years of science, that the stars shine against the backdrop of space and that space reaches out to infinity. The Egyptians, however, did not possess this scientific information and their outlook was childlike. It is this naivety which led the Egyptians (and indeed all ancient cultures) to believe that existing just beyond the blackness of space was a real, physical landmass.
It is actually very easy to see the land above, it requires little effort, merely walking outside on a clear night, adopting a childlike outlook (something I’m good at) and looking up. A common sense notion soon reveals a seemingly flat unmovable earth and a sky that canopies or stretches out over it – heaven appears as a hemispherical dome (or hammered out bowl) covering the Earth. This is exactly how the ancients viewed it only with one major difference, the dome of heaven, space itself was perceived as a rigid cosmic land that literally canopied the fours corners of the Earth. It was held up by four cosmic posts symbolised by the Egyptian Djed Pillar (left). What we have here is two lands and since one was up and the other down the Egyptians called them the ‘Two Lands‘ of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt = heaven and earth.
The conventional definition of the Two Lands, Upper and Lower Egypt is that it represents a geological north-south divide i.e. we have an invisible east-west line drawn somewhere near Cairo and the land to the south is called Upper Egypt and to the north (Delta) we have Lower Egypt. In my book I take this apparent set in stone premise apart by asking questions such as; the Nile River flows from south to north and naturally forms two great east and west land masses – how can this be ignored in favour of a invisible line drawn somewhere near Cairo? I further go on to discuss how the ‘Unification of the Two Lands’ – the very foundation upon which Egypt was built (& ancient history) has nothing at all to do with the amalgamation of a invisible north-south divide but was a planetary body in the guise of numerous pharaohs appearing to traverse between the Two Lands of heaven and Earth, thus uniting them.
In support of this I ask some very basic questions such as – why after unification did the symbolism (crowns etc.) of the Two Lands remain – why not one unified Egypt – one set of unified symbols? Why after unification were the kings depicted individually wearing either the white crown of Upper Egypt or the red crown of Lower Egypt? Why not show unity by wearing the double crown (shmty) at all times? Answer; the separate symbolism (and references) remained because even though the pharaonic planets carried out their duty to maintain ‘divine order’ (ma’at) by battling the forces of evil and uniting the Two Lands – Upper and Lower Egypt were always two separate land masses. Of course there is much more to this, for further arguments for and against I refer you to my book and for now we will take the premise that Upper and Lower Egypt, the Two Lands were indeed referring to heaven and earth.
Upper Egypt – a dual world – as above, so below
Upper Egypt should not be seen as the land of the dead, far from it, it was a parallel world coexisting alongside our Earthly world. Very much a vibrant land of the living as time itself followed the same day night cycle on earth. In taking up an intermediate location between the Two Lands, this role fell to the perennial sun god Re. One sun inextricably linked the two parallel worlds – dawn on Earth was dawn above, daytime on Earth was daytime above, dusk on Earth was dusk above and night was night in both lands. The Sun was the perennial life-supporting orb which shone on the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt.
We need look no further than Re’s epithets to confirm not only the existence of the two worlds but also his role in illuminating, and in his perpetual existence, seemingly protecting them.
“Illuminator of the Two Lands.”
“Lord of the two lands is Re” (an apt title also given to the pharaohs).
“Powerful is Re protector of the Two Lands.”
Many authors have proposed this ‘as above, so below’ concept, and Egyptologists are fully aware of the Egyptians concept of duality. I take this one step further and give the whole thing real physical presence. I would ask the question, would the ancient Egyptians be so obsessed with, and put so much of the nation’s resources into a duel world they couldn’t physically see?
How to get to this land
Having given real physical presence to the next world and identified it as Upper Egypt a world coexisting with this one, we can now turn our attention into getting there. This is where we get to the crux of the GKS and the bonding of mortals with astral bodies.
The physical body, the ka, ba and akh
The Egyptians believed each individual person was made up of many parts; the physical body, the ka, ba, akh, the name and the shadow. With a childlike outlook on the cosmos, it is easy to understand why the Egyptians believed that the shadows we cast have a spiritual existence. Our shadow is always with us and to a certain extent it appears to watch over us and protect us eternally. It was also reasonable for this ancient culture to believe a person’s name was vital regarding the afterlife. They believed that simply mentioning the name of the deceased brought that person to life. However, of greater importance was the ba, ka, akh and the physical body. If we consider these we will understand how humans were ‘paired’ with astral bodies.
Scholars do not understand the ka, ba and akh, or anything connected to the ‘soul.’ They cannot grasp how and why the Egyptians came to the belief that each person consisted of so many spiritual parts. They are also at a loss to explain the true purpose and role of each part or soul. They assume the entire spiritual concept is yet another aspect of a totally bewildering world.
‘The precise meaning of ka, ba, ach (akh), shm (sekhem) and so on is no longer clear to us. Well-meaning scholars try again and again and again to force the Egyptian idea of the soul into our traditional categories without enabling us to understand even a little of it any better.’
(Poortman, 1978)
I will offer a very simple and plausible explanation for the roles of the ba, ka and akh based solely on the convictions of the ancient Egyptians and the real world of celestial chaos.
Physical body
The physical body was very important. As resurrectionists, the Egyptians believed they would simply ‘get up and go’ in the next world’. It was therefore necessary to keep a person’s earthly form intact which is why the Egyptians mummified the dead.
The Ka
The ka was the physical ‘double’ – it came into existence the moment a person was born. On many occasions the creator-god Khnum was shown modelling the ka on a potter’s wheel at the same time as he was forming the body of a human, as in the image on the left.
In funerary art, a persons ‘double’ or ka was sometimes depicted as a slightly smaller figure standing behind the living being. When an individual died, the ka continued to live and as such required the same sustenance as the living person required in life. For this reason it was provided with genuine food offerings, or with representations of food depicted on the wall of the tomb. While not physically eating the food offerings, the ka was thought to absorb their preserving life force.
Many tombs and temples had false doors and these were west-orientated and served as a link between the living and the dead. Offerings were typically made to the ka before the false doors. After death, the ka was ‘at rest’ whilst the body was prepared and mummified. The ka was then reactivated so that the spiritual transformation of rebirth in the ‘next world’ could take place. The deceased then travelled to join their ka and by doing so, the link to the next-world through their tomb was established. The ka was represented as a hieroglyph consisting of a pair of arms pointing upwards. It was believed the two outstretched arms magically warded off evil forces (drawing above & in the image below).
Giving physical identity to the Ka
As discussed, 4,000 years ago the whole solar system was engulfed in space debris; the skies of Earth were dominated by kingly planets and littered with incalculable amounts of asteroids and comets of various shapes and sizes. The Egyptians regarded the planets, stars, asteroids and comets as real beings. They were not lumps of rock or dirty snowballs (asteroids and comets) as we know them, but real living, breathing individuals. They were also perceived to be physical ‘doubles’ of people living on Earth – they were the kas of the Egyptians.
Herein lies the key to understanding the Egyptian idea of the soul and the entire double concept. From the Egyptian perspective, a ka was not an individual being living a separate life in another world or dimension; it was not a spiritual part of a human as with our understanding of soul. It was a real astral ‘twin’ or stellar ‘double’ living a parallel existence, totally ‘at one’ with humans.
Hatshepsut (Venus) “Just and Full of Vitality like the Sun (Ra)”
The following is taken from Queen Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri. It is a request from Amun (Aurora) to Khnum for the creation of Hatshepsut and her ka.
‘Amen-Ra called for Khnum, the creator, the fashioner of the bodies of men.’
‘Fashion for me the body of my daughter and the body of her ka,’ said Amen-Ra, ‘A great queen shall I make of her, and honour and power shall be worthy of her dignity and glory.’
‘O Amen-Ra,’ answered Khnum, ‘It shall be done as you have said. The beauty of your daughter shall surpass that of the gods and shall be worthy of her dignity and glory.’
‘So Khnum fashioned the body of Amen-Ra’s daughter and the body of her ka, the two forms exactly alike and more beautiful than the daughters of men. He fashioned them of clay with the air of his potter’s wheel and Heqet, goddess of birth, knelt by his side holding the sign of life towards the clay that the bodies of Hatshepsut and her ka might be filled with the breath of life.’
(Bold emphasis)
This is a perfect example of the god Khnum simultaneously creating two exact forms of the same person; the god Khnum fashioned two identical Hatshepsut’s – one human and the other her ka or celestial double. In this particular case it was a guise of the planet Venus (the majority of queens were guises of Venus). In other words this was a guise of Venus plus a mortal representative.
Traits dictating roles
The behavioural traits of these bodies dictated their roles and how they were perceived and this was drawn from the natural world. For example, rocky bodies orbiting around the monarchy were viewed as members of the royal court, fan bearers, scribes, overseers, concubines or right-hand men. The legions of rocks trailing behind Mars were the rank and file soldiers of the king. ‘Shaven headed’ moons that orbited Earth were seen as the ‘all powerful’ priests of Egypt. The skies of earth were teeming with masses of cometary bodies and all were paired with or perceived to be the kas of humans. This included the enemy forces – the swarms of debris that smashed into the god kings were ‘doubles’ of the enemy on Earth.
It was not possible for each and every person to associate with their respective double – size was the determining factor here. Mortal kings, queens, courtiers, priests and other dignitaries could make a connection easily due to their association with the dominating planets, moons and other large bodies. However, commoners were associated with asteroids and comets and, because of their relatively small size, it was difficult to identify their respective kas. Nevertheless, all Egyptians vehemently believed in a ‘double’ above due to a belief brought about by cosmic chaos and a sky crowded with infinite bodies. We can see the celestial ka at work from the following inscriptions, all taken from the translations of J H Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt: The nineteenth dynasty (The whole collection of Breasted’s excellent books can be accessed online here).
That which the ka does, is to reign, (A common phrase for royalty)
All protection, life, stability, satisfaction, all health, are behind him, like Re. The living king’s-ka, Lord of the Two Lands…
Praise to thy ka, 0 good and beautiful ruler…
They were immediately brought before the Good God (Ramesses II), their hands uplifted to his ka, acclaiming and smelling the earth before his beautiful face.
May he grant life, prosperity and health to the ka of the king’s-messenger to every country…
May he grant favor to the ka of the fan-bearer on the king’s right hand, king’s-son of Kush, governor of south countries, Seti.
May the ka of Pharaoh, L. P. H., thy good lord, favor thee, who caused thee to fashion the statue of Ramses VI…
May the ka of Ramses IX favor thee, the great ruler of Egypt, the beloved child of all the gods, because of the completion of every work!
His majesty sailed down-stream to the Northland, while the west and the east made great jubilee, saying: “Welcome is thy coming, and welcome thy ka! To sustain alive the Two Lands.”
Transitional location
Although existing above, ones double occupied a totally separate location to the divine stars. Stars dwelt in Upper Egypt which was the divine firmament whereas ‘doubles’ occupied an intermediate or transitional location somewhere between the Two Lands (drawing at bottom of the page). From the perspective of Earth this was roughly the same location as the ruling planets, the Sun and many of Egypt’s enigmatic sky gods. In effect, there were three basic locations and all of them were perceived to be inhabited by real beings. Lower Egypt or Earth was home to humans, an intermediate region was occupied by human ‘doubles,’ and Upper Egypt or the land above was home to the complete and eternal form of humans, the all powerful stars. In simple terms there were two lands, one up one down, and an intermediate space in-between (due to dust and debris this would be further subdivided into regions).
Although further research is required, I believe that by occupying the intermediate space, all Egyptian ‘doubles’ were involved with pharaoh’s court.
Thutmose III: The Napata Stela.
He shall be at the head of all the kas of the living.
He does it so that life will be given (him). He (Tuthmosis/Moon) shall be at the head of the kas of all the living, appearing glorious as king of Upper and Lower Egypt on the throne of Horus like Re.
(Note; “Like Re,” refers to red Horus orbs being just like the Red Sun).
They took on roles such as viziers, overseers, fan bearers and foot soldiers and did not undertake agrarian tasks such as farming. Unlike Upper and Lower Egypt which were fixed lands where ploughing, sowing, reaping and harvesting took place, the intermediate space was not a firmament. To the Egyptians it was a magical transitional space; a world where pharaohs rode chariots of gold and electrum and where epic cosmic battles were fought (the wars and battles of the pharaohs). It was a place of activity where evil (Seth) was an ever-present threat.
Life in the intermediate space was precarious and restless for all kas and this was in total contrast to the lifestyle of the divine Egyptians who had reached heaven and who enjoyed a peaceful existence. Here ordinary Egyptians enjoyed more leisurely activities such as hunting and farming. This was recorded in the glorious afterlife scenes painted on the tomb walls of the ordinary Egyptians (as above). Royalty were an exception and upon rebirth in the Elysian fields, the pharaohs could take on any form they chose.
Despite the fact they took on different roles, humans and their doubles coexisted simultaneously; one existed on Earth and the other inhabited the transition world above. However, at death a person united with their ka to journey to the land above.
The ba
The ba was considered to be an individual’s distinctive manifestation similar to our concept of personality. It comprised all non-physical attributes which made a human unique. It was the entire deceased person with its own identity and was not separate from the body. In Ptolemaic and Roman times it was said of the deceased: “May his ba live before Osiris.” The ba was depicted as a human headed bird (the head of the deceased) with human arms and the ba-bird could assume whatever shape it wished.
Having identified the ka, the ba is self explanatory. It was necessary for the deceased to journey from their tomb to unite with their ka if they were to be transformed into an akh (star, Osirian). As the physical body could not do this, it was the job of the individual’s ba to do this. After death, the ba-bird collected the deceased’s personality from the mummified remains and took it to be reunited with the deceased’s physical astral twin. Only after this union, when a person was complete, was it possible for them to be reborn as an ‘effective one’ in the next world, the black land (kmt) of space. The image above depicts a persons ba in the process of transferring its personality from the deceased for a union with its ka.
Although not entirely clear, it seems that the process of transferring ones manifestation took time, with the ba flitting between the mummified remains and the ka to ensure every aspect of its humanity was transferred to its double above. It was therefore helpful for the perfectly persevered body to lie in state in its tomb. This gave the ba-bird plenty of time to relocate every aspect of the deceased person’s personality as it carried out its duty. This time-span was probably adopted from observations of the Horus Mars as it was slowly wrapped in white linen (like a spiral galaxy) as it moved away from Earth. Mummification and the wrapping of acres of linen bandages around the deceased came about as a direct result of such observations (The black jackal headed god Anubis coming into play here).
The bird form was chosen because of its ability to navigate land, sea, air and space, although the Egyptians were unaware that space was devoid of air. They believed that conditions above were similar to those on Earth, particularly in relation to Upper Egypt which was exactly the same as Earth, only better. The Egyptians believed all astral bodies were living kas. After death, it made sense to use the ba-bird as a manifestation of oneself to provide a direct link to ones ka. Dying was referred to as going to one’s ka.
Once the ba and ka were united and the astral twin was complete, a final journey to the Next World was undertaken. This was a journey fraught with dangers as the body traveled from a chaotic intermediate location to the relative tranquility of heaven. Chaos posed an ever-present threat in the transitional location and Egyptians therefore needed assistance. Magical funerary spells and amulets were used to help guarantee a safe passage. Known as the Book of the Dead, spells were written on papyri and placed in coffins or were put in magical amulets and wrapped in mummy bandages. Much time and resources were spent assisting the dead to the Next World where they were transformed into the ultimate form – that of an immortal akh.
The akh (star)
The akh was the fully resurrected and glorified form of the deceased in the next world. An akh was regarded as enduring and unchanging for all eternity and it was the goal of every Egyptian to become one. The word akh means an “effective one” or “powerful one.” The Egyptians believed the imperishable stars were akhs, the ancestors of those who had passed before them. Once a person had successfully become an akh they could guide their loved ones on Earth. It was believed that the akh could reach beyond the limits of the afterlife to have both positive and negative effects in the realm of the mortal world. The drawing on the left clearly depicts the whole process of becoming a star.
Below are typical Egyptian stars to be found on many tomb ceilings. This is a very unusual way to draw a star, this is because it represents the limbs and head of a human being i.e. two arms, two legs and the head.
It always surprises me that the Egyptian belief in the transformation of humans into stars after death is brushed aside as a bizarre belief which cannot be explained. Yet this belief provides invaluable information – the Egyptians were not only showing themselves transposed as stars, but they were also revealing the location of their next world. This was the hemispherical blackness of space which canopied the four corners of Earth. It was the Next World which all ancient cultures were obsessed with and which all aspired to be reborn in.
The meaning of akh as effective one or powerful one should be regarded as a descriptive name or title. This is because, although the name refers to the stars above, they were individual humans and each maintained their own distinct personalities and individual names. These were the traits and names given to them while they were on Earth.
Summary
The world as seen through Egyptian eyes. The Egyptians believed that at birth, two of them were created − an earthly form and a sky double or ka which dwelt in the intermediate space between heaven and Earth − Upper and Lower Egypt. After they died, and by means of the ba bird transferring their personality, the earthly form would unite with its astral double to undertake a final and hazardous journey to a very real firmament above. Here a life of immortality was attained among the stars. This entire afterlife ‘next world’ belief was a direct result of planetary bodies, in the guise of god kings, traversing between our ‘flat’ Earth and the hemispherical dome of heaven.
To my knowledge at least two major religions, Catholicism and Islam hold the same basic ‘dual’ belief i.e. when a person is born two entities of the same person are created, the physical form and a soul, and after death, as with the Egyptians, a union takes place enabling the completed form to attain a life immortal in the heavens.
Here we have direct borrowings from early Egyptian beliefs only eons of time has seen the understanding of ka or soul and indeed heaven itself to become lost. Planetary bodies no longer move back and forth between two fixed lands, cosmic chaos has all but subsided; the gods have retreated and left mankind to fend for himself – astral doubles or souls are now an invisible force, a spiritual life form and science has now deemed the black land (kemet) above to have infinite qualities, it is no longer a bowl shaped firmament covering the earth – both heaven and soul are now truly in the eye and mind of the beholder.
The Stela of Ramesses II
I’m not actually deviating from the convention line of thought. This can be gleaned from The Stela of Ramesses II in the Brooklyn Museum, New York (left). The accompanying text speaks for itself and fully corroborates my heaven and earth proposal above.
Accompanying information taken from the museum.
Stela of Ramesses II 19th Dynasty XIX, reign of Ramesses II (circa 1279-1213 B.C.) Excavated by the Egypt Exploration Society in the forecourt of the temple at Amarah West in Nubia in 1939. Sandstone 39.420, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund.
“This stela commemorates King Ramesses II’s presentation of statues to a temple of Amun-Re in Nubia. The arrangement of scenes and text symbolizes the ancient Egyptians’ conception of their highly structured state. Heaven appears at the top, with the sacred world of the gods beneath it, followed by text linking the divine and human realms, and, at the bottom, the terrestrial home of the Egyptian populace.”
“The stela’s curved upper margin represents the vault of heaven separating the ordered universe from chaos. Ma’at (universal order) governs everything below the arc, whether depicted in the pictures or mentioned in the texts. The upper register shows an event in the gods’ domain: the presentation of symbols of kingship to Ramesses II by Amun-Re, the principal god of Egypt during the New Kingdom. The five lines of text beneath this scene stand between the worlds of gods and humans. Part of the text specifies the five names Ramesses II used as ruler, emphasizing his more-than-human qualities. The remainder recounts the king’s many offerings to Egypt’s temples. The lowest register shows four birds representing the Egyptian populace paying homage to the king.”
The ka (double) name
The oldest known part of the royal titulary is the Horus-name , sometimes also called the banner-name or the KA-NAME (my capitol emphasis). It represents the king as the earthly embodiment of the god Horus, the divine prototype and patron of the Egyptian kings. This name is ordinarily written within a rectangular frame, at the bottom of which is seen a design of recessed panelling, such as we find in the facades of early tombs and in the false doors of many private tombs.
Understanding The Royal Titulary
The king not only united Upper and Lower Egypt but he was also the link between the human and divine worlds. Although the king himself was a human being, the office of kingship was divine; the human body of the king was a vessel in which divine kingship manifested itself in the form of the royal ka or life force that was passed on from one king to the next. The king was similar to, though not identical with, the gods, and his titles, netjer nefer, meant ‘Perfect God.’
(Robins, G. (1997). The art of ancient Egypt. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p 18)
Taking my stance that the ka or soul of the king was a celestial body, let us say Mars, then the above offers clear support for the notion that the body of Mars was named and renamed many times over as Egypt’s god kings. As the kings reigned over earth (literally) they were the manifestation of the sky god Horus. The largest body with respect to earth was naturally deemed the “Living Horus.” This could be either Mars, Mercury or the Moon (occasionally Venus). Errant planet that danced with earth and are at the very foundation of Egypt’s divine royal family. I have dubbed these planets “Horus bodies.”
I don’t disagree with the above orthodox teachings, I merely place them in a world dominated by cosmic catastrophe and give them their true meaning!
Below: Kushite king of Napata also in the act of holding up the heavens. As divine intermediaries between this world and the next, an image that should be taken at face value.